I would say I am a perfect example of a player with slow speed and a weak release.150 rpms12mph off my hand.

The main problem I have on house shots with virtually any ball is that I cannot play up second arrow with any consistency.If I miss right even half a board the ball will go through the nose.But If I miss inside the ball usually does not hook much and will hit weakly.Even with very weak balls, unless there is a ton of oil, I cannot consistently get the ball to hold the track playing a down and in 10-10 shot.

Recently I have started using the strongest ball I have and moving in (right foot on 17-18) and playing over 12 or 13 out to 10 and back.I am keeping the ball in the oil the whole time.This increases my entry angle and margin for error and helps me stay away from flat 10s.

I am using my Visionary Midnight Scorcher Particle Urethane ball at 320 grit and it arcs very smoothly on this line and has no trouble rolling back and carrying or leaving something makable.

Even if you throw your ball slow, it will still pass through the 3 phases of ball motion. Skid, hook and roll.

In your mind, try to see those 3 phases as separate segments of the lane, each with it's own length.

If you use an aggressive surface, your skid phase may be relatively normal, but with a slow ball speed, your hook phase will be quite short, followed by a longer than normal roll phase as friction overpowers your RPM's.

Visually, you'll see your ball skid fairly straight, make a sudden move left and then begin to roll. Any error, left, right or in your speed, can cause problems.

So, with your ball selection, you need to choose a ball that will give you a normal skid, a longer hook phase, and a shorter roll phase.

What I'm going to tell you may seem harsh, but it's an honest assessment. Based on where you are in your game, you need to concentrate on spares, not strikes.

You will get strikes, but never enough to make that a major consideration in ball selection. I would stay away from balls with an aggressive surface. I would also stay away from urethane.

I recommend you go with a plastic ball that has a weight block. Plastic will give you a longer skid phase, a longer hook phase and a shorter roll phase. You may even carry more hits, but don't expect that.

What you will be able to do is control the pocket a little better and only leave yourself with single pin or easier pin combinations, which you can then pick up.

As you become a better spare shooter, your average will tick upwards. Unless you can increase speed and RPM's, striking more will be difficult.

Your thoughts here make sense.We had an older guy on our team a couple years ago (older than me anyway) and you could see his ball go through the transitions as his ball speed continued to decrease over the years. The hook phase began to be way too short from my perspective and the roll phase seems to be too long. His typical 190 to 200 average began to drop and he eventually quit bowling.What was sad was that he was usually the first guy at the bowling center every Wednesday night looking forward to bowl. Hope he's okay...

Bowling is all about making adjustment to the conditions. A person's age and abilities are part of those conditions. One of the hardest adjustments all bowlers will be faced with, is their expectation of what they want from the game.

Within, what your body can deal with, try the following cadence to establish your timing.

For a 5 step, try slow, slow, quicker, quicker, quickest. If you push-away after the first step or simply unhinged on the second step, it should seem as your ball passes your right leg going back, you will be walking away from your back-swing in the opposite direction.

The result is you will finish your slide and your ball will still be behind you. Here's where it get's tricky. You must wait for your ball to swing forward without any help from you.

Because you're already stopped, you become the fulcrum point of your arm swing. As the ball is reaching the bottom of your swing, this is where your thumb should exit. Only now can you accelerate your fingers through the end of your delivery.

Don't 'lift' with your fingers, instead allow your wrist to remain relaxed so that your fingers create a 'whip' like effect, with as little effort from you as possible.

From the time you come to the end of your slide, until the ball reaches the bottom, is only about a second of maybe 1.5 seconds based on back swing. Waiting for that ball to fall to the proper position is the hardest part.

If you try to assist your swing in any way, your torso will turn slightly left wiping out your body angle. Because of the turn of your torso, your shoulders will also close, your arm will begin to arc away from your swing path, your elbow will get too far outside and you either go around the ball or pull it across your target line.

Be patient, stay still and only apply the whip action from your wrist after your thumb exits the ball. What ever you add to your ball should not change the arc of your swing or the direction of your swing plane.

If you get an opportunity to watch any pros warming up, you will see they start by taking a single step or maybe 2, and allowing the ball to swing forward without any help. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

First - Nord - I don't think you're really a good example of this ONLY because your style is such an outlier. Your style is so very full-roller and you have to find very very specific balls and drillings to work for you.

IF you were more conventional in delivery (and I'm NOT saying you should) then you would be a good example. So, this is not a knock on you or your delivery, just that you're not really a good example in this discussion. Essentially, your delivery is TOO strong, while your speed is low.

Second - bowling is a game of physics. If you can deliver weight and speed, you can knock things around. Deliver that weight with speed in the correct direction then you will get (mostly) predictable results.

The rotation we use is there to a: change direction (mostly) and b: impart (some) velocity (due to core physics) - but most of us don't really get enough rotation to do this. This is the realm of guys like Maximum Bob or Belmo. . .

So - if you lose ball speed, then you need to compensate. At some point, you will get below the optimal line where you don't have enough left to compensate and you WILL have to enact the old saying, "Strike for show, Spare for dough"

But until that point, you should be able to balance speed and direction, even with a fairly weak release) to get a decent number of strikes. My F-in-Law (84) rolls a solid ball. Not a lot of speed, not a lot of rotation (weak) and as long as he can be limber and roll the ball on the right line (LOL - accuracy? ) then he can and does string them. His main problem is that when we make an adjustment, he just drifts right back to where he started. . . ARGH! LOL

He's a great example, I think. He lost a LOT of speed after his last heart attack and has never had a lot of rotation.

Ok - a couple of thoughts:First - Nord - I don't think you're really a good example of this ONLY because your style is such an outlier. Your style is so very full-roller and you have to find very very specific balls and drillings to work for you.

IF you were more conventional in delivery (and I'm NOT saying you should) then you would be a good example. So, this is not a knock on you or your delivery, just that you're not really a good example in this discussion. Essentially, your delivery is TOO strong, while your speed is low.

I have never considered that I had a strong delivery simply because I am used to watching the pros on TV with their huge rev rate. By comparison my rev rate is quite low. But tonight in league at Parkway Bowl I thought about what you said above.

Using my Midnight Scorcher Particle Urethane ball at stock 320 grit I was forced to play third arrow out to 10 and back. There simply was not enough oil for me to play any further right. By comparison my partner could play 9 out to 6 and back with his Code Black with great success. He is a semi-roller stroker with 15.5 mph speed and probably somewhere between 250-300 rpm rev rate.

So I had trouble keeping the ball from going high, while he was living in the dry. This is the second week with the Scorcher that I have been forced in on the fresh. In anticipation of next week I took my Scorcher up to 600 grit Scotch-Brite. Hopefully this gets the Scorcher up the lane further before it reads and lets me move a bit right on the fresh and square up a little more.

I guess this must mean my delivery is strong since I can basically use urethane on a pretty heavy house shot, keeping the ball in the oil the whole way.

Rather than begging for donations we're asking you to do one simple thing to help keep these forums running smooth:
When shopping for anything on Amazon.com or eBay please use these links to go to the web sites.

This won't cost you a cent!

You'll still get the exact same low prices, deals and free or low cost shipping; it doesn't change anything for you at all! The items do not have to be bowling related; all purchases made through these links help us! Amazon.com and eBay will pay us a small commission for every sale and it's helping us cover the expenses.

BowlingFans.com, BowlingFans, The Right Approach, Kegler's Connection, Tour411, BallBeat, BowlingCommunity.com, BowlSearch.com, and Bowling News You Can Use are trademarks of usrbingeek LLC. All other trademarks and tradenames are property of their respective owners.